From 10 Hours a Week, $10 Million a Year — MARKUS FRIND, a 29-year-old Web entrepreneur, has not read the best seller “The 4-Hour Workweek” — in fact, he had not heard of it when asked last week — but his face could go on the book's cover. He developed software for his online dating site …

The Afterlife of Cellphones — 1. Cellphones in Hell — Americans threw out just shy of three million tons of household electronics in 2006. This so-called e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the municipal waste stream and, depending on your outlook, either an enormous problem or a bonanza.

“U.S. Economy Screwed” — The recession-deniers having been muzzled by a horrendous last two weeks of December, the gloom-and-doomers are now out in force. Their key arguments: — Plummeting housing will now drag down the rest of the economy. — The “bad debt” problem is not just …

DRM Is Dead, But Watermarks Rise From Its Ashes — With all of the Big Four record labels now jettisoning digital rights management, music fans have every reason to rejoice. But consumer advocates are singing a note of caution, as the music industry experiments with digital-watermarking technology as a DRM substitute.

Has Gawker Jumped the Snark? — “THE ideal Gawker item,” Nick Denton, the owner of Gawker Media, wrote in an instant message last month to a prospective hire, “is something triggered by a quote at a party, or an incident, or a story somewhere else and serves to expose hypocrisy, or turn conventional wisdom on its head.

Telus considers dumping its ‘Betamax’ of wireless networks — With more wireless competition looming, executives at Telus Corp. are believed to be mulling a pricey swap of the firm's network technology in a bid to offer subscribers a bigger selection of mobile devices and grab a larger slice of lucrative international roaming fees.

Great. Expectations. — There's a delicate balance to Stevenote expectations. The hype drives us all to pursue every shred of information leaking out about the big day, right up to mere moments before Jobs takes the stage. The rumors, the patent filing, the retail store stock levels …

Is Seven Renegade, Guerrilla Marketer or Fake? … Anonymous blog “Shipping Seven: Random thoughts from somebody working on the next Windows OS” is supposed to be the insider's view about the new operating system's development. — Right now, the posts are quite benign, which suggests the blog could be:

Striking Writers to Launch Online Video Co., Seeking $30M+ — Out of work and newly wise to the state of content being distributed online, a group of professional writers is looking to start their own production and distribution company. Aaron Mendelsohn, writer of the Disney film Air Bud …

Gone Indie — OK, by popular complaint I've cracked open the stylesheet and (a) darkened both comments and body text; and (b) fixed the problem with magnified text. — My apologies. I actually do like web design, but my patience with it is more limited than at regular programming …

China blogger beaten to death — (CNN) — Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China's Xinhua news agency reports. — The killing has sparked outrage in China, with thousands expressing outrage …

Palm's Next Generation OS is Code-named Nova — Recently the question of what to call Palm's next generation OS has been a source of confusion and commotion around the boards here at PIC. Members have so far been referring to it by a multitude of names and acronyms such as: Palm OS 2 …

5 Who Won't Appreciate Google Android — Written by Thomas Howe, co-founder and CEO of The Thomas Howe Company, winners of the 2007 O'Reilly Emerging Communications Mashup Competition. His blog is about voice mashups and communication-enhanced business processes.